Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today’s Mass Alleluia and Gospel are again a help on our journey, towards Dec. 8 and our Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary. By God’s Grace, let us listen to God’s Word and also to the words He gave to St. Louis de Montfort, in writing “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin”.
Jesus is speaking to us, as He preached His sermon on the Mount – He speaks His Truth in love to all, that we may know Him. Let us listen with the ears of our hearts that we may do the Truth we hear from Him, as Mary did on this earth. Let us listen also to words God gave to St. Louis de Montfort:
Today’s Mass Alleluia and Gospel are again a help on our journey, towards Dec. 8 and our Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary. By God’s Grace, let us listen to God’s Word and also to the words He gave to St. Louis de Montfort, in writing “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin”.
Alleluia (Is 55:6) - “Seek the LORD while He may be found; call Him while He is near.”
Gospel (Mt 7:21, 24-27)
Jesus said to His disciples: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. Everyone who listens to these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of Mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”
Jesus is speaking to us, as He preached His sermon on the Mount – He speaks His Truth in love to all, that we may know Him. Let us listen with the ears of our hearts that we may do the Truth we hear from Him, as Mary did on this earth. Let us listen also to words God gave to St. Louis de Montfort:
- So that I may obtain from Your mercy a genuine devotion to Your blessed Mother and spread it throughout the whole world, help me to love You wholeheartedly, and for this intention accept the earnest prayer I offer with St. Augustine and all who truly love you.
Prayer of Saint Augustine
O Jesus Christ, You are my Father, my merciful God, my great King, my good Shepherd, my only Master, my best helper, my beloved friend of overwhelming beauty, my living Bread, my eternal priest. You are my guide to my heavenly home, my one true light, my holy joy, my true way, my shining wisdom, my unfeigned simplicity, the peace and harmony of my soul, my perfect safeguard, my bounteous inheritance, my everlasting salvation.
My loving Lord, Jesus Christ, why have I ever loved or desired anything else in my life but You, my God? Where was I when I was not in communion with You? From now on, I direct all my desires to be inspired by You and centered on You. I direct them to press forward for they have tarried long enough, to hasten towards their goal, to seek the One they yearn for.
O Jesus, let him who does not love You be accursed, and filled with bitterness. O gentle Jesus, let every worthy feeling of mine show You love, take delight in You and admire You. O God of my heart and my inheritance, Christ Jesus, may my heart mellow before the influence of Your Spirit and may You live in me. May the flame of Your Love burn in my soul. May it burn incessantly on the altar of my heart. May it glow in my innermost being. May it spread its heat into the hidden recesses of my soul and on the day of my consummation may I appear before You consumed in Your love. Amen.
- During the third week they should seek to understand Jesus Christ better…As during the previous week, they should recite the Litany of the Holy Spirit and the Ave Maris Stella, adding every day the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus.
